Tell Me Your Name…
by Viidoll
Summary: Hanajima Megumi had never minded his solitude - it was the life he had chosen for himself, after all. But after he began to spend time with the energetic and cheerful Sohma Momiji, all of that began to change. Light Momiji/Megumi & Haru/Yuki.


_Disclaimer_: WHYYYYYYY am I not Takaya Natsukiiiiiiiiiii?

So, this story actually began in 2005. It never made it past the first chapter, and it was rather poorly written. I felt the story had good potential for a revision in order for me to pick it up again, so the original first chapter has been replaced with this one, a rewrite. It was rewritten in September of 2012. I now have an event timeline planned out for this story, unlike seven years ago when I wrote plotless stories out of thin air, so it is very likely that this story will continue to be updated and finished. I'm actually pretty excited now that I have a planz :D I don't expect this story to be very long. Maybe around ten chapters.

I was inspired to pick it up again after I still continued to receive reviews for the story seven years after I wrote it. It people were interested in it when it was pointless and poorly written, then I hope those same people and more will enjoy this rewrite. I'll take this moment to say just how much your feedback, reviews, favorites, and alerts all mean to me. I wouldn't have the same inspiration to write if I didn't have enthusiastic readers. I hope you enjoy this current revision of the first chapter. Expect to see a second chapter soon! :)

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**Tell Me Your Name...**  
_chapter one_

Their house was completely empty, absolutely silent. Then again, their house was always like this at this time of day. That is, except for Megumi. He was always the first to come home and place his shoes by the door, the first to open the windows should the weather warrant it, and the first to get to work on his assignments from school.

It wouldn't be this quiet for long though. He was the first to come home, but his older sister was the second. And after her came all the rest of his family of five. After that, things got a little more energetic – the house livened up. But until that time, it was just him, all alone.

It never bothered him though, this silence and solitude. Honestly, he would prefer it over a rambunctious crowd of people anyway. He had everything he needed, after all. He had Saki. He had his family. He had the love they gave him, and what more could he possibly need? This was the life he had chosen for himself, after all. And he wouldn't change his decision for anything or anyone.

He opened the sliding door that led into his bedroom and placed his backpack on the end of his futon. School had been the same as usual – the majority of his classmates were too scared of him to talk to him or even tease him. He did know all of their names, after all. Megumi was the kind of person that remembered names, and names were all he needed to keep his classmates at a distance. And it seemed the upperclassmen from the nearby high school had chosen to find something else to do with their time today, so he had made it home without incident.

He didn't have a lot of homework today, so he finished it quickly and managed to change out of his uniform and into his regular clothes – all black, of course – before he heard the familiar sound of approaching voices. Tohru and Saki were on the quieter side, but Arisa always gave them away before they could even enter the house. Megumi allowed himself the smallest of smiles at the noise. It meant the world and more to him that his sister had found those who accepted and loved her unconditionally. She had spent so much of her time feeling sadness, loneliness, and guilt. She deserved friends like the ones she had now. And one day, when she finds the one person who loves her more than any other person can, she will be more than deserving of that love too. All Megumi hoped and prayed for was his sister's happiness. It brought him an immeasurable amount of joy that those prayers were being answered. That was all he needed.

He gave a soft smile at the sound of Arisa's bellows outside of the house, but was surprised when he heard another, unfamiliar voice shouting back at her. He peered out of one of the windows and saw that the group approaching was rather large – at least, larger than usual. And there were quite a few oddly colored heads out there. Megumi's curiosity got the better of him, and he made his way down the stairs as the door opened. His sister and her two best friends were the only ones who entered. Saki looked at him and smiled, slipping her shoes off.

"Hey Megumi!" Arisa greeted him loudly with a grin. "How is it you always know when we're here?"

"How indeed..." He answered, keeping that little secret to himself. "Hello Saki, Tohru-san, Arisa-san."

"Hello Megumi-san!" Tohru said cheerfully, with that genuine smile she always wore. It was easy for him to understand why his sister and Arisa were always so protective of her. She was a rare kind of purity in a world sadly full of filth. If there was anyone who would love his sister forever and unconditionally, it would be Tohru and Arisa.

"You have brought friends?" he asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Ah, Megumi-san!" Tohru exclaimed, reaching for his hands. "You must be introduced at once!"

Arisa came up from behind him and started to push him from the back encouragingly – he hardly had any time to slip on his shoes before he had been forced outside. "_Was für eine Überraschung!_" the young blonde boy exclaimed, hopping over to greet them. "Wow, he looks just like you!" He said to Saki with a smile, locking his hands behind his back as he leaned in to speak.

"You think so? I think we look nothing alike..." His sister said, speaking from her position behind him.

"Megumi-san, this is Momiji-kun! Momiji-kun, this is Megumi-san, Hana-chan's younger brother!" Tohru said excitedly, beaming as the two locked eyes.

The blonde boy's brown eyes flashed with enthusiasm and he hopped over, throwing his arms around Megumi's shoulders and hugging him entirely unexpectedly. "_Schön, Sie kennen zu lernen! _It's nice to meet you!" He was pried off of him almost immediately after by an orange-haired boy, who proceeded to yell at him about how he can't just go around hugging everyone he meets.

"I don't hug everyone!" he said with a pout on his face. "Just the ones I like!" he said, before turning and flashing an enormous smile in Megumi's direction.

Megumi was certain that, other than Tohru, he had never seen someone with such a genuine smile before. Completely disregarding the fact that this boy, who was only slightly shorter than himself, was donning a rabbit backpack and a girl's school uniform – who was Megumi, who found solace in wearing nothing but black, ornate clothing, to judge? – Megumi bowed his head. "I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

The young, black-haired boy sometimes prided himself on being an excellent judge of character. This boy, as eccentric as he was, seemed to be authentically friendly and excited to meet him, so Megumi smiled ever so slightly at him, to which the boy grinned right back.

"And this is Hatsuharu-san," Tohru said, motioning toward a tall teen with contrasting hair – the roots were pure black, and the rest was snow white. He wore his uniform, but had rolled up his sleeves and accessorized himself with spiked bracelets and a thick choker. Megumi wondered if the tattoo on his arm was real and bowed his head in his direction as well.

"Ah, it's like you are twins. This world is full of mystery..." he said, staring off into the distance. Then his gaze shifted and fell upon the much shorter boy before him. "Nice to meet you. Call me Haru."

"It's really not a mystery if siblings look similar, Haru," a rather composed grey-haired teen said to his friend, with just a hint of a smile on his face.

"And this is Yuki-kun and Kyou-kun," she said finally, waving her arm politely in their respective directions. The grey-haired teen who had just corrected Hatsuharu gave him a small smile, almost shyly, and the orange-haired boy who had scolded Momiji just wore a scowl on his face. The young curse-caster bowed his head to them as well and glanced around the group once more.

He could tell already that all of them were definitely characters, some lively and some quieter but characters nonetheless. But not a single one of them gave off a bad vibe, even the miserable glaring teen with the bright orange hair. They seemed nice enough. He turned to look at his sister, who shot him a subtle and soft smile that he returned immediately.

"Oh! I know!" the blonde boy exclaimed, throwing his arm into the air as if asking to be called in by a teacher. "Let's have Megumi come play too! To play badminton with us!"

"Do you want to ask him before you decide things on your own?" The orange-haired teen grumbled, bringing a hand to his head like he was beginning to get a headache.

"_Ruhe!_" Momiji asserted, waving a finger at Kyou as if he were scolding him. He then turned to the black-haired boy with another smile plastered across his face. "You'll come, right!?"

Megumi looked back at his sister, who leaned in toward him. "Have you completed your school assignments?" she asked him, to which he nodded.

"_Erfolg_!" The blonde boy cheered in excitement, grabbing Megumi by the hand – he was a very friendly person, and the black-haired boy assumed he was like this all the time considering the reactions, or lack thereof, of his companions. "Then let's go! But first... ice cream!"

The blonde-haired boy, of whom Megumi could only relate to as having rabbit-like qualities, brought them to a small ice cream parlor decorated with pink signs and wrought iron table sets painted in white, featuring thin waving ivy designs on them. It was definitely the kind of place that the black-haired boy had pictured a cheerful boy like Momiji taking them to.

The rabbit-like blonde turned to them and grinned. "This place just opened, and I've been meaning to try their ice cream! Come on, try it with me!"

Momiji grabbed Tohru's hand in one of his hands and, much to the dark-haired boy's surprise, Megumi's hand in his other. He pulled them into the small shop without giving them much of a choice and the rest of the somewhat large group followed them in. It was a small, cute place with the outer wall opening out onto a small street-side eating area. The weather was warm with a slight breeze, so they chose to eat their snacks in the outside section of the shop.

Megumi sat in one of the chairs and was surprised when Momiji plopped down into the one facing across from him. Whether he was surprised by the interest the rabbit was showing in him or the tower of several scoops of ice cream atop a tiny waffle cone, he was unsure.

"So! Megumi!" He said, somehow managing to eat his ice cream in enormous bites without suffering the usual consequent affliction of brain freeze. "How old are you?" He asked, smiling widely with ice cream on his face. Megumi couldn't help but smile himself, though not to the extent of his rabbit-like associate.

"I am thirteen," he answered quietly, licking at the single scoop of ice cream gracing his own cone. "I am in my second year of junior high school."

"Oh! I see," Momiji said, swinging his legs back and forth underneath the table. "I'm fifteen! I'm in my first year of high school with Haru!"

Looking back and forth between the two of them, it was hard to believe that they were the same age. Hatsuharu glanced at him with a blank stare from his position next to Yuki, but then offered him a warm smile. The differences in both appearance and personality were immense, but it was more amusing to Megumi than anything. Then again, he found it harder to believe that this fair-haired boy was two years his senior.

"What are your friends like in junior high school?" the blonde boy was asking, still swinging his legs.

"I... tend to keep to myself. Most people avoid me," Megumi answered honestly. People tend to stay away from that which they don't understand. He wondered how Momiji would react to the announcement of his preferred skill set.

"_Was_!?" he exclaimed, as if the possibility of people avoiding a quiet child with an expressionless face wearing nothing but black clothing possessing the ability to curse people was entirely unreasonable. "Why would they do that!?"

"I have a gift," Megumi said, his face devoid of any emotion as he said it. "An ability, you could say."

"Ah! What kind of gift?" the boy asked cheerfully, and Megumi guessed it would be easier to tell him the truth now instead of later. It wasn't anything he was ashamed of, after all. He was actually quite proud of his ability, and if people were scared of him because of it then so be it. He had a feeling that this boy would not fall into that category.

"I have the ability to curse people. All I need to know is their name, and the curse takes effect in three days," Megumi replied bluntly and honestly. The breeze picked up slightly then, carrying an unexpected chill with it.

"Ah, no big deal! What's so scary about that?" Momiji said cheerfully. He seemed not to notice the change in the atmosphere, which disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. He polished off the last of his tower of ice cream, as if he needed more sugar in his system. Megumi was getting the feeling that he was gifted with the ability to produce his own constant sugar rush without relying on external means.

"I can think of a lot of things that are scary about that," Kyou said as he passed by, his arms held behind his head. However, if the thought had really scared him, it certainly wasn't showing on his face or in his body language.

"It's only scary if it's a bad person who can curse people!" Momiji asserted. "And Megumi is a nice person!"

"Fine, never mind. Whatever," the orange-haired teen said, wearing what seemed to be a permanently placed scowl on his visage.

The dark-haired boy lowered his face. He was a bit embarrassed, and a little bit happy, to hear that kind of comment when it came to him. What the rabbit-like boy was basing his opinion off of however, as they had really only just met, Megumi wasn't quite sure. When Megumi looked up again, the ramblings of Momiji sounding in the background, his sister caught his eyes and smiled at him. He didn't really know these people that well either, but Saki seemed to enjoy their company so they couldn't be that bad. Of all people, he knew to trust his sister's judgment of the people around them.

Of course, if Megumi were a completely normal person looking at these teenagers from the outside, he could see where people might assume they weren't all good. Hatsuharu, for one, sported several pieces of spiked jewelry that could be considered a menacing sign. Not to mention his dual-hued hair. Kyou, with his orange hair and his permanent scowl, looked ready to hurt someone most of the time. Arisa looked and acted very much like the gang member she used to be, and Megumi himself and his sister were considered creepy and were to be avoided. The only remotely normal looking people in the group were Tohru and Yuki.

Megumi knew firsthand that a book should never be judged by it's cover.

At that thought, Momiji jumped up suddenly from his seat, his hands empty of any trace of his sweet snack. "Delicious!" he proclaimed to the group. Hatsuharu wordlessly handed him a napkin to take care of the smears of ice cream now adorning his face. After he thoroughly cleaned himself with the help of Tohru, he wasted little time in rallying the group once again.

"Let's go play badminton!" he said, in a cheerful voice that Megumi was quickly becoming accustomed to hearing.

He grabbed the dark-haired haired boy once more by the hand and began to pull him down the street with a huge grin on one face and the smallest of smiles on the other.


End file.
